Wichita eagle., 1887-10-22

! beautiful woman Several boon have bsso
written with that one idea 20 carry them,
and, like Charles Reade's Foul Play thsy
have always caughtnthe puolics eye Thsrs
i was no sentimental talk between Us The
crack Of the guerrilla rifle, the distant boom
| Of battle the war smoke In the air. and the
period when no one knew what Q day might
I! bring forth. were very i'll adapted for sincere
love making, and that anything in the shape
| Of man could have made love to Ellen Sun
| derand insincerely it would take pretty
bitter cynic TO believe. But We were together
none the less. together when the tree shadows
crept slowly across the hot, still, brown fields.
| as the sun sank lower and lower toward the
mountains SUBMITS: together in the stiffness
and loneliness Of the moss grown aisles Of the
| woods; in the noontide heat: together when
| the big, round harvest moon hung still and
shimmering like great sheet OF gold bal
anced against the black velvet wall Of the
autumn night universe What We said and
| what we did and what we thought it matters
not 1t would be to you very like chest
nut, perhaps, to dwell upon it Every woman
knows who has ever been 10; every man re-
members who knew what it was to be %.
"Well, one day when entered the house I
had surprise / had beard rumors Of there
being q wounded Confederate officer in hiding
at the Sunderlands Ihad paid no attention to
them, however, believing them to be without
foundation But on this day. entering the
house as usual without knocking, opened
the door Of the reception room, or psrlor, the
| first door on the right hand side of the ball,
which ran through the house There was q
large fireplace in this room on the side oppo-
4 Z in, I Say N
| chair, high backed, in front Of this fire |
| was instantly conscious in some way-for
certainly saw nothing OF him-that a man,
and a stranger. was sitting in that chair.
did not attempt to see any more stepped
out, closed the door, and quietly took chair
| in the sitting room opposite. In a moment or
two the eldest daughter came in hurriedly
pale and agitated
a'Mr - she gasped, did You gointo the
other roomF
81 did, said l.
| Ibid you see anybody
~ did not. answered, very quietly. She
looked me squareiy in the eye. l looked
squarely back She bowed, and, apparently
relieved, passed out.
.She had scarcely gone before Addie came
in She was confused at seeing me in thsssit-
ting room.
aOh. Mr. - she said, and then stopped
in perplenty.
| 1'What is itr asked.
! az was going to ask-I-that is-td you
| 60 into the other rooma
"T did, said I.
Ibid you see anybodyf
al did not
"And then, with the same question on her
| lips, Ellen came i'll, ignorant OF what bad &C.
| CURED with the others. She was very grave,
| almost sad She asked me the same question
| in low, an appealing tone. ! did not like
even a subterfuge with her. When she asked
| if I had penetrated the mysterious apartment
! | asked, shaking my head:
a'And why, Is there anything in this house
70 concealg
~The eldest sister, who had returned, shook
her head in denial. 1t was no wonder. he
was her husband, suppose looked at FL
, len and Addie. They looked away. They
never looked as lovely, 1t least TO me. For
! they would not tell a lie and they trusted me-
| "Well, heard no moro Of the stranger, and
| things ran on as before for . week or two
| Then there came repeated rumors Of the guer-
rillas in the neighborhood, and we began to
! take extra precautions. I continued to call
daily at the Sunderlands, and one afternoon
| as was going away Ellen seemed particularly
| ill at ease She was nervous, hesitating, and
| altogether unlike herself. l said good-by 70
| Der at the porch and went out to my horse
| As was about TO mount she came out Of the
! house toward me bearing a long, rich Grim
! SOD silk scarf, with fine tassels Of white silk
at either end She held 1t out to me- saying:
| Twill you wear this-for meT
| ~ cannot rob you said Outside Of the
guitar believe it was tho only thing Of any
value that she had left in the world
| PLEASE wear it, she said And while hes
itated she deftly put it around my neck. and
before suspected had put her arms around.
too, and had kissed me squarely on the lips.
As looked at her, qrits staggered in an al
together happy state of surprise. the tears
| sprang TO her eyes. she turned away and went
hastily into the house
Il rode down the road slowly Her con-
duct " as so strange, the memory OF that kiss.
the first and last she ever gave me, was %
tenacious that it drove everything else out Of
my mind Ny rein fell upon my borse's
neck. and il there had been hostile sharp
shooter or Confederate troop anywhers
about would have been an easy prey bad
| Ave men with me, but they had gone further up
| the road and did not wait for them ] rode
thoughtfully along during most OF the way
for four miles Finally ] approached The
| Gap the place Of which spoke, the darkest
and most secluded section Of the whole dis
| lance.
AS ] entered il heard some one calling
| behind me 10 little while recognized
| Josh. my negro cook who had beer visiting
| some plantation He was afraid ] suppose.
! and wanted protection, though be made soma
| ether excuse for calling. ] refined up in The
! shade II . big fr by . white fallen trunk ID
| The Gap and waited for him: waited perhaps
| five minutes sat twisting the ,assels OF The
| scarf and thinking 81 Ellen was an easy
| mark as / sat there dead shot tor any man
| in hiding sbc bad ever looked along gup
| barrel
| Then. With Josh short distance behind,
| iourneyed onward I stopped a, planta-
| ton some miles further down and waited for
| NJ men. They did not come ] went back
| 70 camp. go, a detachment. and went out 70
| look tor them We found them all in tbs
Gap They lay in the road il the shadow q
| the b. fr. by the whit fallen trunk rIddlesi
with bullets from guerrilla ambush and
bad been shot dead from ttei, ssddIss aoI teL
| minutes after passed the spot
| There was q silence for some minutes as The
listeners gathered bis usaLiEg Finally Ole
suggested:
you probably kept that scarf
Well, rather II saved my life 70 . Ger
/ tainty never saw beg again. Toe cor order,
| took as away that day. But
The commander -in-ch!e: b, Io~ and de-
| Iberate pu4s, religtteo an sxtiA-x 1lsLv1
nzar-Nsw Yorh THA
| HEROINE AND MARTYR.